Results 12,681-12,700 of 28,162 for speaker:Catherine Murphy

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (28 Nov 2019)

Catherine Murphy: I have an ancillary point. This is happening at a time when there is very serious pressure on other countries, particularly given what has been happening in the Mediterranean over the past few years. We have got to see this backdrop also.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (28 Nov 2019)

Catherine Murphy: In the absence of this information how would SUSI make a determination? We do not want to end up excluding people who should be funded for college places. We might ask about the challenges in doing this where an exception is made.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (28 Nov 2019)

Catherine Murphy: I wish to declare that I am also a member of the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission and I expect that there will be another discussion at its meeting next week on this because some of the information would not have been fully appreciated or declared. The purchase of this printer from my understanding is to replace two old Heidelberg printers. They were 12 years old and cost in the region...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (28 Nov 2019)

Catherine Murphy: We are also told there is a management board which worked on the business case. We need to know the job titles of those involved. I do not imagine the Clerk of the Dáil would be micromanaging this. We need to see where the problems arose in the decision making. We are seeing some of that in the procurement process in respect of the head of communications. One of the dates that...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (28 Nov 2019)

Catherine Murphy: The committee should consider how we conduct our business in terms of how easy we make it for people to be fully open with us about mistakes that have been made. This issue may not be the greatest example to use. There is a genuine cultural issue in respect of what happens to people who put their hands up and admit they made a mistake. The committee should give that consideration.

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners
Chapter 17 - Tax compliance interventions
Chapter 18 - Tax relief on film production (28 Nov 2019)

Catherine Murphy: I wish everyone a good afternoon. A bugbear of mine was mentioned. I know that these companies provide employment but it is the employees who pay the-----

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners
Chapter 17 - Tax compliance interventions
Chapter 18 - Tax relief on film production (28 Nov 2019)

Catherine Murphy: I may come back to corporation tax in a few minutes but I want to ask a few quick general questions on Revenue's accounts. In 2018 there were three cases of misappropriation of tax by employees of the Revenue Commissioners. How was the discovered? Was it referred to the Garda? Perhaps Mr. Cody will outline the details of that case. What was the outcome? Was any of the money recovered?

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners
Chapter 17 - Tax compliance interventions
Chapter 18 - Tax relief on film production (28 Nov 2019)

Catherine Murphy: Is that how this was-----

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners
Chapter 17 - Tax compliance interventions
Chapter 18 - Tax relief on film production (28 Nov 2019)

Catherine Murphy: Was any of the money recovered?

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners
Chapter 17 - Tax compliance interventions
Chapter 18 - Tax relief on film production (28 Nov 2019)

Catherine Murphy: Okay.

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners
Chapter 17 - Tax compliance interventions
Chapter 18 - Tax relief on film production (28 Nov 2019)

Catherine Murphy: The fact that this is included in these accounts and is in the public domain identifies and acknowledges that Revenue takes this very seriously. Corporation taxes, CTs, are up by 22%. An official from the Department of Finance was before this committee a few years ago when there was a very large increase in corporation taxes. In that case, it was to do with the onshoring of some of the-----

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners
Chapter 17 - Tax compliance interventions
Chapter 18 - Tax relief on film production (28 Nov 2019)

Catherine Murphy: Yes. That official was not sure why the amount had increased by so much. An increase of 22% appears to be very high. Does that consist of additional companies, increased profits, or something else? Can Mr. Cody identify one or more big ticket items which would explain that increase?

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners
Chapter 17 - Tax compliance interventions
Chapter 18 - Tax relief on film production (28 Nov 2019)

Catherine Murphy: That would have been the bulk of it.

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners
Chapter 17 - Tax compliance interventions
Chapter 18 - Tax relief on film production (28 Nov 2019)

Catherine Murphy: Did those companies have a particular profile?

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners
Chapter 17 - Tax compliance interventions
Chapter 18 - Tax relief on film production (28 Nov 2019)

Catherine Murphy: Were they within a certain sector, such as ICT or pharmaceuticals?

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners
Chapter 17 - Tax compliance interventions
Chapter 18 - Tax relief on film production (28 Nov 2019)

Catherine Murphy: I will move on to a few other issues. While the representatives from the Department are here, I wish to ask them about the film industry. The alternative employment test is one of the tests that satisfies whether or not there is a qualification. I appreciate that the film industry brings other benefits besides employment, such as showcasing the country and encouraging spending in the...

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners
Chapter 17 - Tax compliance interventions
Chapter 18 - Tax relief on film production (28 Nov 2019)

Catherine Murphy: Presumably the longevity of projects is set out and included in that.

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners
Chapter 17 - Tax compliance interventions
Chapter 18 - Tax relief on film production (28 Nov 2019)

Catherine Murphy: Employment can be very tenuous in this area. We want to ensure we get quality projects which will deliver good employment.

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners
Chapter 17 - Tax compliance interventions
Chapter 18 - Tax relief on film production (28 Nov 2019)

Catherine Murphy: What about the timelines?

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners
Chapter 17 - Tax compliance interventions
Chapter 18 - Tax relief on film production (28 Nov 2019)

Catherine Murphy: We might look at that again next year. I will return to Mr. Cody on ICT, which was the second-largest item. We are probably more acutely aware of what that might contain following our own experience with a printer here. I note that €56.8 million is an awful lot of money. I know Revenue is a very big organisation and it is highly regarded for its efficiency. I can see how ICT would...